Ihave a section on my store wall devoted to membership certificates from various associations and trade groups. In
the beginning, many of those
associations were helpful. I was
green and really wanted to suck
up all the information I could,
so those memberships got me
monthly newsletters, access to
other members, and assistance
getting supplies and services at
a reduced rate because as a new
business I didn’t really have any
purchasing power.

As the years passed, I noticed a
shift. I no longer needed as much
assistance from the associations,
and the associations seemed to not
be providing as much information
and help. Monthly newsletters became quarterly newsletters, which
then became sporadic email blasts.

I’m sure as the economytightened, many retailers decid-ed to let their memberships lapsebecause they were not seeingany value. Memberships dropand then the benefits drop. Oris it that benefits drop and thenmemberships drop? Either way,many associations were in trou-ble; in fact, one of my favorite as-sociations went bankrupt. It wasthe association that helped methe most in the beginning of mybusiness and had wonderful pro-grams I have not seen duplicated.

I continued to pay membership fees because, quite frankly,
I thought the certificates on the
wall gave us some validation
with consumers. As more years
passed, I realized the certificates
on the wall really didn’t mean
anything in today’s world. Consumers are going to validate you
through social media sites and
Internet review sites, not multicolored certificates hanging on
the wall. I started to not renew
associations I really felt did nothing for the micro-independent
retailer or pet services provider.

Recently the renewal letter for
World Pet Association (WPA) hit
my desk, and for the first time in
many years, I hesitated to put it
in the “to pay” pile. I absolutely
love WPA because of the shows it
produces. If you’ve read my column for any length of time, you
know I love SuperZoo, which is
a WPA show. The organization
also produces Atlanta Pet Fair

& Conference, which is a hugegrooming industry show. WPAwas involved with Purdue Uni-versity in developing breedingdog care and welfare standardsand with the Professional PetGroomers and Stylists Alliance tocreate the new Standards of Care,Safety and Sanitation.

I decided to visit its website
to ensure I was taking full advantage of what the organization
offered. I visited the membership
benefits page and noticed one of
the benefits is discounted booths
at trade shows. I’m pretty sure a
micro-independent pet retailer is
not going to have a booth at an industry trade show. I came across
a statement summing up its mission: “WPA is a proactive force
that raises consumer awareness,
develops and retains customers
for the industry, opens markets,
forges trade relations and promotes industry growth.” I’m not
sure how that statement has anything to do with the micro-independent pet store. Then I really
started to pay more attention to
the emails I received from WPA,
and they seemed to be more
geared toward the manufacturer. I really was starting to think I
probably should discontinue my
membership with WPA, but because I was so happy with many
of the things it did, I felt I owed
the organization some communication before deciding to discontinue my membership.

I sent an email to Doug Poin-dexter, WPA president, that
contained pretty much the sentiments expressed here. Poindex-ter responded, which I expected
he would, but what surprised
me was how interested he was.
It turns out that WPA had been
researching ways to reach what it
calls “consumer-facing businesses.” During the organization’s
research, it found that there are
many retailers that have similar
feelings to what I expressed. In
further communication, it appeared WPA really has the desire
to not only expand membership
via the consumer-facing businesses but a real desire to assist us.

WPA already had startedlooking into the problem mostmicro-independent stores arefacing: the shift from brick-and-mortar to online retailers. WPAis so interested in reaching oursegment that it was forming acommittee to look into what weneed and how to reach us—theconsumer-facing businesses. Ilearned WPA was using thatterminology because it wants toreach more than just the retail-ers, it wants to reach anyone inthe consumer pet business—re-tailers, groomers, dog day cares,trainers, pet sitters and more. Ivolunteered to be on that com-mittee to be the voice for themicro-independent retailer. Isuppose I will need to use newterminology, so make that thevoice of the “micro-independentconsumer-facing pet businesses.”

I’m very excited about this
opportunity because if an association as large as WPA listens
to our concerns and gets behind
us, we will have a voice in this industry that will be hard to ignore.
My goal is to make sure WPA
listens. If you have opinions on
what an association could do
for us, the micro-independents,
please email me at bc@platinum
paws.com, and I will make sure
WPA hears you!

Standing Up for the Little GuyI felt the micro-independent voice was getting lost in the vast spectrum of the pet industry,so I contacted one of the largest industry associations to take action.

B.C. HENSCHEN, a certified pet care technician and an
accredited pet trainer, is a partner in PLATINUM PAWS, a
full-service pet salon and premium pet food store in
Carmel, Ind. His knowledge of the pet food industry
makes Platinum Paws the go-to store for pet owners
who want more for their pet than a bag off a shelf.

TERRY FRITZ has joined Dallas-based
Brakke Consulting Inc. as a
senior consultant. In addition to
experience in sales organization,
sales management and training, and
new product marketing, Fritz will expand Brakke’s
recruiting business into sales and mid-tier marketing
and executive positions. He also will bring additional
market research capability to the firm by conducting
focus groups.

Most recently, Fritz was an advertising executiveand animal health marketing specialist with TroneBrand Energy. In addition to his work with Trone, hehas more than 30 years of executive-level experiencein sales and marketing at Velcera Inc., Idexx Laborato-ries and Pfizer Animal Health.

Vital Essentials announced the
addition of BREANNA SANTY,
who joined the team as an inside
sales representative working from
the company’s Green Bay, Wis.,
headquarters.

Within this role, Santy will be responsible for the
Mid-Atlantic and New England regions and will work directly with Vital Essentials’ outside sales reps, distributor
reps and retailers in the Northeast region of the U.S.

Santy comes to Vital Essentials with eight years of
experience working in veterinary clinics.

Hyper Pet LLC, a maker of dog toys, announced that

TIM BLURTON, the company’s executive vice president, has been promoted to CEO. Blurton has worked
for almost 30 years with some of the biggest brands,
including Royal Canin and Mars, the company stated.

Blurton has experience in establishing new
businesses, such as Royal Canin Veterinary Diets, and
in turning declining companies into cash-generating
powerhouses, according to Hyper Pet. Blurton joined
Hyper Pet as executive vice president in early 2016;
his promotion follows the retirement announcement
of Randy Woods, Hyper Pet’s CEO for the past 12 years.

Associations likethe World Pet Associationcan offer more than just amembership. If you speak upand get involved, you mightdiscover that industry